Table 2.
Summary of quality assessment for studies included in systematic review based on Centre of Evidence Based Medicine case study appraisal tool (www.cebm.net/critical-appraisal)*
| Appraisal question | Study number | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | |
| Did the study address a clearly focused question/issue? | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Is the research method (study design) appropriate for answering the research question? | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||||||
| Are both the setting and the subjects representative with regard to the population to which the findings will be referred? | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Is the researcher’s perspective clearly described and taken into account? | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Are the methods for collecting data clearly described? | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Are the methods for analyzing the data likely to be valid and reliable? Are quality control measures used? | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Was the analysis repeated by more than one research to ensure reliability? | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||||||||||
| Are the results credible, and if so, are they relevant for practice? | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Are the conclusions justified by the results? | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Are the findings of the study transferable to other settings? | ||||||||||||||||||
* Study corresponding to study number as follows: (1) Barrett et al. [3]; (2) Berkeley et al. [5]; (3) Chang et al. [7]; (4) El-Sayed [10]; (5) Erturk et al. [11]; (6) Haidar et al. [14]; (7) Lin et al. [22]; (8) Ning et al. [26]; (9) Powell et al. [28]; (10) Ruszkowski and Pucher [30]; (11) Ryan et al. [31]; (12) Salter and Dubos [32]; (13) Spence et al. [38]; (14) Subasi et al. [39]; (15) Tezeren et al. [40]; (16) Wu et al. [44]; (17) Zadeh et al. [45]; (18) Zionts et al. [46].